


Garden of Stone

by SchalaDresdan



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: 18OI AU Week 2019: Day 1, Alternate Universe - Mythology, Blind Yuuri, First Meetings, Gorgon Victor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-06 20:34:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19070173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SchalaDresdan/pseuds/SchalaDresdan
Summary: Victor was born a monster, a gorgon that turned every living thing that saw him into stone. Yuuri was born blind. What happens when these two, both cursed by the Gods before they were born, meet?





	Garden of Stone

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by [this art](https://madblanco.tumblr.com/post/183672786402/greek-mythology-au-with-gorgonvictor-and) by the talented madblanco. I chose to go in a different direction, however. 
> 
> I’m using the Greek model for the gorgons. Medusa was not a cursed human in the Greek mythology. Her and her sisters were born monsters. So in this story, Victor is their estranged brother. He lives alone on an island near theirs.
> 
> Also, the mythology states that the gorgons turn all creatures that see them to stone. It never mentioned what would happen if there was a creature that could not see them…

Victor sighed as he walked slowly through his garden. No birds sang in the surrounding trees, and the air was devoid of insects buzzing around the colorful blooms. The only sounds were the soft hissing of the snakes that made up his hair, their scaled bodies making soft sounds as they moved against each other, and the almost silent sound of his own footfalls. _It is so lonely here. Maybe I should have stayed on the island with my sisters. At least I could have had some company…_

Victor shook his head slightly as he set his lips into a determined line. _No, they were truly monsters, who reveled in every life that they took. I couldn’t live like that._

A bird burst out of the treeline, singing shrilly as it made its way across the garden. Victor found his eyes drawn to the tiny bird. _Please, please don’t look at me…_

The bird’s call ended abruptly as the bird fell from the sky. Victor cried out as he watched the bird hit the ground, its wings breaking off on impact. He walked over to the tiny broken bird and knelt down. Victor felt the tears streaming down his face as he scooped up the broken stone pieces. “Little bird, I’m so sorry. If only you had never tried to fly across my garden, you would still be alive…”

Victor stood, the pieces still held carefully in his hands. He walked over to a corner of the garden near the tiny cave he used as a shelter. There was a small plot of land devoid of flowers. Victor knelt down and used his hands to move the soft earth. He placed the bird in the small hole and covered it carefully with dirt.

Victor felt something rub against his cheek in a comforting gesture. Victor smiled slightly through his tears as he reached up and ran his hand down the body of one of his snakes. “Thank you. At least I have you. At least I’m not totally alone.”

_Even though sometimes it feels that way. And every time that I turn something to stone, no matter how small, I feel like a little piece of myself dies. At least… at least the family that guards this island has done a good job of keeping humans away. No one has come in generations._

_Robbing animals of their life like this is bad enough. I just can’t handle it when I accidentally turn a human to stone…_

***

The Katsuki family had lived on the small isle of Tenbri for more generations than could be recalled. They were the guardians, the ones that warned outsiders of the horror that dwelt deep in the island’s interior. They protected the world from the immortal monstrosity that killed any human that it came across without mercy.

It had been over 5 generations since the last hero had arrived on Tenbri, determined to take on the monster. And he had not returned. Yuuri’s parents told their children the stories of the creature, warning them to stay well away from the center of the island. Yuuri heeded his parent’s warning, and stayed on the outer part of the island. Where things were familiar. Where he was less likely to hurt himself.

Yuuri was blind, cursed by the Gods before he was even born. His eyes were milky white, from the time that he first opened them as a babe. His family had readily accepted him as he was. But it meant that there were many tasks that he could not perform. It made him feel useless, like a burden to his family. And it made him stay close, caused him to act with a certain amount of caution. So while Mari talked loudly about how she thought the monster certainly _had_ to be dead after such a long spanse of time, Yuuri was content to stay safely near the shore.

He sat on a rock, near one of the streams that fed into the sea, the limb he used as a guiding stick propped up beside him. Yuuri sighed as he listened to the sound of the stream running over the rocks, and the sounds of the birds in the nearby trees. _There doesn’t seem to be as many birds on this part of the island. There never has been. I wonder why that is?_

The wind changed directions. Yuuri took a deep breath and noticed immediately a new, sweet smell. _What is that? It smells so good. Is it some type of flower? I wonder why I’ve never smelled it before?_

Yuuri pushed himself up from the rock and grasped his guiding stick firmly in his right hand. He used the stick to check for obstacles in his path as he carefully made his way into the forest. _This is a bad idea, right? What about the monster?_

He shrugged slightly. _I’ll just be careful. No doubt I’ll hear the monster before it sees me. And what are the chances that the flowers I smell are anywhere near the monster’s den?_

_That is, assuming that there is a monster at all._

***

Victor was kneeling down, studying the flowers in front of him. _I need to remove the dead blossoms so that it will continue to bloom._ He carefully pinched off a bloom, allowing it to fall to the ground beneath the plant.

“I am very fortunate that this island is so temperate. At least I can cultivate my garden all year round.” _It at least helps me pass the time._

A man’s voice called out from the edge of the forest. “Hello? Is someone there?”

Victor’s heart caught in his throat. He found himself unable to move, rooted to the ground with the fear of what would happen next.  _No… Not again._

He could hear soft sounds coming from the forest, the sounds of a human traveling through the undergrowth. His eyes were drawn to the spot. Then, he saw him. A handsome young man slowly making his way towards Victor’s garden. Victor cried out, covering his face and spinning away from him.

“Don’t look at me! Please, leave while you still can…”

Victor listened carefully for a response. But the air was still. The only sounds Victor heard were the distressed hissing of his serpent hair, and the panicked sound of his own breathing. _No… I was too late… He looked at me. And all because I was greedy, and wanted to see him…_

_He was so young… and handsome… Why did he have to come here? Why am I so cursed?_

The man asked, in a soft voice, “Why shouldn’t I look?”

Victor let out a shaky breath. _He’s still alive. Thank the Gods. He didn’t look at me. I have to get him to leave before he does…_

“Anything that looks at me turns to stone. So please, leave before you do, too.”

The man gasped. “You are the monster of this island.”

Victor struggled to hold back the sound of anguish that threatened to escape at the rebuke. He cried out, “Just leave, before it’s too late.”

Yuuri took a deep breath and collected his thoughts. _Whoever is there, they don’t sound like a monster. They sound sad, and lonely. Like I have felt for most of my life._

Yuuri slowly broke through the tree line and carefully walked to the edge of the garden. He stood quietly for a moment and allowed the scent of the flowers to envelope him. “Did you plant these flowers? They smell divine. In fact, it was their scent that led me here.”

Victor started slightly. _My flowers… led him here? Oh, Gods, I’m going to have to destroy my garden… I can’t let it lead people here to their deaths._

Yuuri stood at the edge of the garden, unsure of his next step. _I don’t want to leave, but I don’t want to stay if he doesn’t want me to. And if he’s the monster I’ve been warned about all of my life… What if he tries to hurt me?_

_But if he wanted to hurt me, why is he telling me to leave?_

Yuuri sighed. “I would come closer, but I don’t want to trample your flowers? And, um, well… I can’t see them, so…”

Victor looked up, fighting the impulse to turn around. “What?”

Yuuri ran his left hand down his right arm awkwardly. “I’m blind? So I can’t see where the flowers are.”

Victor repeated softly. “You’re blind…” _He can’t see me. That’s why he didn’t turn to stone. Maybe… Maybe this means that he could… that I could…_

Victor turned around to face him. “You can’t see me. And if you can’t see me, that means… that you won’t turn to stone.”

Yuuri nodded. “I’m Yuuri Katsuki, part of the family that guards Tenbri.”

“I’m Victor. And I guess… I’m the reason that you guard the island.”

Yuuri chuckled lightly. “I guess you are.”

Victor walked slowly towards Yuuri, watching him closely for any changes. _Even though, if he started to change, it would be too late…_

Yuuri waited patiently, his unseeing gaze unwavering. He listened carefully as Victor slowly approached him, and tried not to flinch as the sound of soft hissing reached his ears. _What type of monster is he? He sounds like a human, but I hear snakes? And how horrible does his appearance have to be, if merely looking at him will turn creatures to stone?_

Victor stopped in front of him and reached out to touch Yuuri’s face, but stopped short. Victor asked hesitantly, “What happened to your eyes?”

Yuuri shrugged. “I was born this way.” He took a deep breath before adding, “You didn’t have to stop. You can touch me, if you want. Just, warn me first? Since I can’t see it coming?”

“If you’re sure…”

Yuuri nodded. “But only if you let me touch your face. So I can ‘see’ what you look like.”

Victor sucked in a breath. _He wants to know what I look like… I’m probably hideously ugly. I have to be, right? To turn creatures to stone just from a look? Once he knows the truth, he’ll run, and never come back…_

“I’m not afraid of you, Victor. If you wanted to hurt me, you would have already.” He paused for a moment. “But if you don’t want me to touch you, we can just talk.”

Victor took a step closer to Yuuri. “You’re really not afraid of me?”

Yuuri shook his head. “No.” _I know that I probably should be, but he seems so… I don’t know how to describe it. Is it possible that he never meant to hurt anyone? That all of the deaths he has caused over the centuries were accidents?_

Victor felt a tear slip down his face. “But… I’m a monster…”

Yuuri’s heart felt like it was going to break. _The Gods cursed you terribly, didn’t they? I can’t imagine how lonely you’ve been, and how many centuries you’ve spent by yourself. Afraid to interact with anything, afraid of what your curse might do to them…_

Yuuri reached out and searched for Victor’s hand. He wrapped his hand around Victor’s and gave it a gentle squeeze. _I always thought that I had been cursed, too. Being born like this. But perhaps… Perhaps I was born without sight so that I could see who you truly are, and help alleviate your loneliness._

“I don’t think that you’re a monster, Victor.”

Victor’s eyes filled with tears. _He sees me. He sees the real me, and not just the monster._

“Thank you.”

Yuuri tilted his head in confusion. “For what?”

“You stayed, even when I warned you to leave. A smart man would have ran. So thank you, for being brave enough to stay.”

Yuuri smiled. “I could stay a little longer. And I could come back tomorrow, if you want.”

Tears fell freely down his face as Victor replied, “I would love that.”

**Author's Note:**

> One day down, six more to go! I plan to have a chapter to post for each day. Tomorrow, look forward to part one of a combined college/supernatural AU titled “Once Bitten.”
> 
> Also, if you liked this AU and would like to see more of it, please let me know in the comments!
> 
> Looking for a cool place to talk about all things Yuri on Ice? Are you over 18? Join us on the 18!!! On ICE Discord server! [Invite here!](https://discord.gg/TYMxcAB)


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